A potential tie with Northern League Division One leaders Morpeth Town is the incentive for South Shields as they travel to Consett in the FA Vase tonight.

The original match between the sides was postponed on Saturday due to snow and ice at Consett’s Belle View ground.

However, tonight’s game is expected to beat the weather, giving Shields an opportunity to claim an 18th consecutive win.

They are sure to face a difficult test against Consett, though, who are ninth in Division One. The winners are likely to host Morpeth in round three, with 1874 Northwich unable to field a team in their rearranged round two clash on Wednesday.

Shields manager Jon King said: “We’ve already beaten Washington and Bishop Auckland in the competition, but this will be our toughest game so far.

“We’ll go into the tie as underdogs, but Consett have an artificial pitch, and that should suit us as we have some very good footballers.

“If you want to go far in this competition, you’ve got to beat the best teams somewhere along the line, so this is another tough one for us.

“Consett are a very good side with three top forwards, and they have suffered a bit with injuries this season, so I think the mid-table position they’re in at the moment is a bit false.

“They’re one of the top sides in the First Division, and this will certainly be our toughest game of the season so far.”

Mariners left-back Michael Turner left last season’s FA Vase winners North Shields midway through the campaign, just as their run to Wembley was gathering pace.

After missing out on that, his motivation is high.

Turner said: “We all know the priority is to win the league and get out of this division, but a Vase run would be nice, especially for myself having come from North Shields last season.

“I left them just before they started getting to the latter rounds, so it was a bit of a blow to miss out on a trip to Wembley. There would be nothing better than making up for that by going there with South Shields.

“We’ve got to get past Consett before we can even start thinking about anything like that, though, and when you look at their position and their form, it’s obvious that it’s going to be very difficult.

“We know that we’re capable of beating anyone in the competition, and we just need to show that on the day.”

Lewis Teasdale remains suspended for Shields for the 7.30pm kick-off. The post code for the ground is DH8 7BF.